Abstract
BackgroundWild birds are an important but to some extent under-studied reservoir for emerging pathogens. We used unbiased sequencing methods for virus discovery in shorebird samples from the Delaware Bay, USA; an important feeding ground for thousands of migratory birds.FindingsAnalysis of shorebird fecal samples indicated the presence of a novel astrovirus and coronavirus. A sanderling sample yielded sequences with distant homology to avian nephritis virus 1, an astrovirus associated with acute nephritis in poultry. A ruddy turnstone sample yielded sequences with homology to deltacoronaviruses.ConclusionsOur findings highlight shorebirds as a virus reservoir and the need to closely monitor wild bird populations for the emergence of novel virus variants.
Highlights
Wild birds have been recognized as important reservoir hosts harboring and amplifying emerging zoonotic viruses such as avian influenza A viruses [1] and West Nile virus [2]
In the northeastern USA, the Delaware Bay area is crucial for the annual migration of shorebird and gull species that feed on the horseshoe crab eggs found in abundance thanks to the coinciding spawning season
Avian influenza virus isolation rates from shorebirds and gulls during spring migration are significantly higher in this area than in other surveillance sites [3,4,5]
Summary
Wild birds have been recognized as important reservoir hosts harboring and amplifying emerging zoonotic viruses such as avian influenza A viruses [1] and West Nile virus [2]. Life Sciences) and analyzed at nucleotide (nt) and amino acid (aa) level by using homology search programs Blastn [7] and Fastx [8] against NCBI Refseq and GenBank databases (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Specific PCR and Assessment of Bird Species Sequence-specific PCR was conducted with HotStar polymerase (Qiagen) and random hexamer-primed cDNA (Superscript II, Invitrogen).
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